Happy - Spooky - Fun!

I have to admit it - we tried...we tried not to carve pumpklins this year. Why? I have no idea. The subject came up between my daughter and me while in the car last weekend and we just kinda of sluffed it off. She said she didn't really feel like it and I likened it to getting the lights strung on the Christmas tree. Now, I really don't mind doing either one - and actually, carving pumpkins is fast and we all love the roasted seeds. Fall is even my daughter's and my favorite time of year - so why would we shun the innocent pumpkin?

Turns out - we didn't! Wednesday night we were getting more and more Halloweeny feeling. We'd rented two movies for my daughter and her friend to watch after a few holiday festivites on Saturday/Halloween night. I pretty much picked the flicks - see, my daughter only recently started getting the itch to watch any sort of scary movie. She was never interested as she is home alone several times a week and I never encouraged her to put all that crap in her head (fyi, I see Linda Blair's Regan from the 'Exorcist' every dang day of my life - so I know of what I speak!). But with the fall season, the Halloween holiday and her ever-blooming 'teenagery', some horror has been sparking her interest. Now she just needs to stay clear of the crap and watch what's good.

I shun the stupid scary movies like 'The Leprechaun' (I've never seen it - I just know it's dumb!) and the way too scary like 'The Exorcist' or 'The Evil Dead'. Over the last few weeks, she's seen 'Halloween', 'Friday teh 13th', 'The Amityville Horror' (the 3rd remake with Ryan Reynolds - cuz...welll...he's shirtless in it - a lot) and together we watched 'The Stepfather' (the original - that remake is crap for sure - avoid it!) and 'An American Werewolf in London' (she thought it was dumb).

Now, Minners (my daughter), doesn't like a lot of blood or nasty killing so I helped her choose two great flicks for Halloween night (who am I kidding - I totally chose them!....but for her own good ;-)). We got 'Poltergiest' - a Spileberg classic....Great story, a few laughs, some scary here and there but mostly, lots of "awesome!" kinds of stuff. Movie two...'The Blair Witch Project'. I know this movie scared lots of people - the Hubs thinks it's the scariest ever. However...everyone is wrong ;-) I mean, no killing (that you see anyway...just disappearing), no blood, no monsters.... It IS creepy and freaky, I'll give it that - but it won't leave horrible images in a teenagers head and that's the goal. So - SCORE one for mom!

K...I'm getting way off track... So - When we drove through the neighborhood to the movie store, we saw several houses had stepped up their spooky decor and the air was so crisp and cool....we knew we had to get pumpkins. So on Thursday, we got three pumpkins - two for her, one for me and as soon as dinner was over, we plunged our knives in. The pumpkin above is mine - I like his teeth!
And these two are my daughter's creations. That big one....he just makes me smile! Doesn't he look jolly? I can just imagine he has a big ol' belly 'guffaw' ready to roll out. If memory serves, she's never carved a mean or scary pumpkin in her life!

Just goes to show...Halloween doesn't have to be about scary...it can just be about fun. I'm sure I picked the right movies. :-)

Happy Halloween!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Happy Halloween!
This is just the remnants of a mini Halloween celebration we had at our house this morning. I can't let a holiday go by without doing a little something fun for my daughter and husband - it's just not in me!
I don't go out of my way or over the top - but small things like this are what I hope my daughter will keep in her memory so that one day, when she's on her own, she might think back to these special mini-celebrations and a smile will warm her heart.
This morning's treats didn't break the bank and that's an important element in our current ecomony - not that it's not important all the time! I bought my daughter and husband the 'monster size' of their favorite candy bar and gave my husband a $5 Starbucks card....just enough for one Venti drink and a little change in his pocket. Because my daughter loves the Charlie Brown Halloween special, I bought it on DVD - Lord knows we've rented it enough times over the years to have bought it several times already! So in the end, it'll save me money! :-) I made the Happy Halloween sign and paper curls during down-time at work. They add a little zing and make the presentation more fun than simply a few wrapped items in a stack. Oh...and about that....I just used plain orange paper to wrap each item, then decorated the front of each 'treat' with a skeleton, pumkpin face and bat! Simple! Cheaper than Halloween bags and tissue and more personal too! I like to keep my special treats really from me and I like to draw, so....
Keeping things simple, I think, makes them a tiny bit more special. Heck, anyone can spend tons-o-money and buy lots of stuff....but Halloween and other days like St. Patricks Day and the like aren't about gifts. However, a small treat here and there make them a bit more fun and special and you can get so creative! Like the Valentine's Day I made individual, heart-shaped meatloaves, mashed potatoes with heart-shaped pats of butter melting in the middle and heart-shaped breadsticks. It made a regular meal totally Valentiney! People appreciate time and effort - and these sorts of efforts are full of love too, so everyone wins!
From me to all of you......have a very Happy Halloween!

Time to Carve the Pumpkins!

Guess what my daughter and I did yesterday? ;-)
What a great time we had carving pumpkins! Sure, it gets a tiny bit tedious near the end and your hand can start to ache a little, but once a pumpkin is aglow - it's all so totally worth it, isn't it? A jack-o-lantern says 'Halloween is here!' in the best way.
A few of these were done with those patterns you get in a kit with the all-time best sawing tool. Granted, they're not original....you might see one at another house a block or two over, but, you have to admit, they are super neat. The first three here are from patterns -my daughter did the tree and I did the skull and 'Welcome' sign. The homemade moon and stars is mine and my daughter carved the funny face after her hand stopped trobbing from an the tree sawing! Provided they don't get soft at all, these five pumpkin lanterns will greet the neighborhood trick-or-treaters to our porch on Friday night! Maybe a nice cool-down in the fridge will keep them hauntingly happy till then.
Of course, with five pumkins, comes lots of pumpkin seeds! Oh boy did the house smell delicious as they were roasting in the oven! Roasted pumpkin seeds are a fun snack and although I've never had a store-bought pumpkin seed from a package, there's no way they could top homemade. I don't have an exact recipe to share - I think most pople just wing-it on their seeds. But in case you have zero idea on how to make them, here's what I do....
Roasted Pumpkin Seeds ~
As you clean out your pumpkin, separate the seeds from the goo and place them in a bowl. Try to keep them as goo-free as you can. Once you have all the seeds from all of your pumpkins, dump them into a colander and rinse them well with water, turning through them a lot with your hands. Drain the seeds as well as you can, then pour them out onto a large kitchen towel (or towels) and pat them dry with an addtional towel. The seeds will kind of stick to the 'patting towel' so as you blot them, flick/pick them off. Once seeds are fairly dry (don't sweat it if they're not super dry...they're going on the oven anway), sluff them off the kitchen towel onto a sheet pan or into a lasagna pan (any large pan that allows them to lay in a mostly single layer). Pour approximately 6 tablespoons (like 1 tablespoon of butter per one cup of seeds) of melted butter over the seeds and use a rubber scraper to stir them well to coat. If you like, you might also like to shake a few squirts of Worcestershire sauce on them at this time too. Next, sprinkle the seeds with salt, garlic powder, onion powder - as well as a little cayenne pepper or some other spice rub seasoning if you wish. Roast the seeds in a preheated 275-degree oven. I check and stir them after every 15 minutes until they are dry and golden brown. This can take upwards of an hour. You can turn up the heat a but and they'll take less time, but you may want to check them more often as once they begin to brown, they can really take off. Once done, let them cool on a rack for about 15 minutes and serve them warm or once totally cool.
Enjoy this seasonal treat soon! Yum!

Lighting Up Halloween.....

I sure wish these photographed better - they look so wonderful all lit up in my living room. My daughter and I, along with my sister and her two daughters painted a bunch of these Halloween candles a few years ago. They were relatively easy - and we learned some great tricks to make them better - after we'd painted them, of course. But that's the lucky part for you - 'cause I can pass on the tips so yours are even better from the get-go! I'll share other art projects we've created as they fit the seasons or my mood :-)
These candles are some of our most prized Halloween decorations in our Halloween 'lot' Each year, as they're unwrapped from their tissue paper 'tombs', my daughter and I get to remember the night that all of us girls sat around our dining room table painting and laughing as these Halloween spooks came to life.
Art projects are such a fun way to while away the autumn hours and they don't have to break the bank - which in this economy, is a real bonus! Also, if you make an 'arty-party' out of it with friends or family, you can share the expenses for the paint and other supplies. An activity like this is great for kids parites too - not only can the kids have fun painting and creating their own masterpiece, but they also end up with a one-of-a-kind party favor to take home and keep forever!
There are no patterns to follow for this project and you're only limited by your imagination! So, below, I've listed the basic supplies you'll need and a few tips to make them turn out beautifully :-) Have fun!!

Painted Glass Halloween Candles
Supplies -
*Glass vessle of your choice - the ones shown above are 6" 'tulip'vases from the dollar store.
*Glass Paints - Opaque white is a must (details on that to follow), other recommended colors for Halloween candles are green, orange, purple, yellow & black
*Black, glass paint pen - or, in a pinch, a medium-tip black Sharpie pen
*Pencil
*Paint brushes of various sizes - but at leat one small one for detail work and one larger one to cover large areas.
Instructions -
The best way to begin this project would be to paint each glass vase with the white, opaque paint (only to the 'neck' of the vase...not the 'tulip' part round the top). If you'll notice in the picture above, the mummy candle really glows well - this is because of the white paint. The other candles seem to 'shine' more than glow - they also took many coats of color to be vibrant. If you paint a white undercoat on each candle first, their color will glow and the candle inside won't be as noticeable either (the candles aren't as noticable in 'real life' as they are in the picture above). This undercoat is a personal choice....but if we'd known then what we know now.....well, you know the rest ;-) Anyway, the paint dries pretty quickly so once that happens, you can lightly pencil your design onto the vase. Using the paint colors you've chosen, begin painting your desgin onto the white-coated vase. As each feature/area is finished and dried, you may decide to paint another coat to make the color darker/more vibrant. Once the design has been fully painted and the vase is fully covered with color (no clear spots!), use the black paint marking pen to outline the design. This makes the details really 'pop'. You can also add even finer details like moles on a witch or scars and stitches on a Frankenstein....things that can be a bit difficult to paint.
Once your candle holders are finished, drop in a votive or tealight candle and light'em up! You're new spooky 'friends' will warm your hearth and heart this Halloween and every Halloween to come!

Candy Continuance...

I just had to show this. It's the sight that greeted me from our living room coffee table this morning. Looks as if my husband had a bit of a sweet tooth last night, eh? Clearly, the candy for the trick-or-treaters isn't the only candy that I should wait to buy! There are no less than 6 Laffy-Taffy wrappers in the huddle - and what better to wash down the chewy, sugary, teeth-coating candy than a sparkly, sweet pop? Oh...did I mention.....he doesn't even like Laffy-Taffy! Yes....this is Full Throttle Sugar Season! Let the games begin!

Candy Galore!

The candy came out this weekend. Has it made it's way in to your house yet? I look at it as both a good thing (well, a fun thing) and a bad thing. It looks nice in the candy dishes - the trick is keeping it out of your mouth!
Each year, just about a week into the fall season, my daughter starts asking when we can get the Halloween decorations out. She gets so excited to see the spooky figurines and pumpkin candles and other fun things we've collected over the years. Tradition is very important to her and she counts on the decorating to offically welcome in the holiday. As much as I like the Halloween items we have, I'm always a tiny bit sorry to have them displayed. See, I remove all of the 'regular' decor (pictures, knick-knacks, 'pretties') that normally grace our end/coffee/sofa tables and entry way, to make room for the holiday 'stuff'. I love our everyday decor so stowing it all away in a cupboard or two makes me wince just a little. However...once the Halloween boxes come in from the garage and get unpacked and my daughter voices a memory about each piece, my 'regret' disappears and is replaced with her smiling face.
Now, much of our Halloween decor is made up of candle holders - all different kinds from store bought to homemade and there are enough of them to seriously dent a gigantic bag of tealights! So although we light'em up big time when the decorations first go up, we don't and can't continue to light them every night or we'd go broke by the end of the month just buying replacement candles! The other type of item that we have in multiples.....candy dishes. They look really cute...and really empty when they're not filled. Needeless to say, my daughter and I hit the bulk candy section during our weekend grocery trip. She picked most of the candies....chocolate eyeballs filled with pb and caramel, Laffy-Taffys, a few Hershey's minis and snack-sized Whoppers. And although I did grab a handful of individual Bit-o-Honey's for myself, I had to some of my favorite......candy corn! I think candy corn is one of those things that people either love or hate. Kinda of like Peeps....you know, the colored marshmallow treats that used to only be around at Easter but now come in a million different shapes and colors for every holiday? I am a Peeps-hater. I'm not big on marshmallow - ever - save for S'mores or when they're mixed into Rice Krispie Treats. The only time I've ever eaten a chocolate-covered marshmallow Santa was when I was very young. I'd taken a bite...hated it, then walked away, unintentionally letting it sit out for a few days. I remember going back to the dried out Santa and thinking, "Well, there's nothing else sweet to eat.....and it IS still candy..." so I took bite number two - which, by this time was very tough, chewy.....and quite good. Good or not - it's also really kind of gross. So....I don't eat marshmallow candy anymore but instead, go for the sweet, mellow, almost buttery yumminess of candy corn which I'm sure makes some people's faces squinch up just like mine does for Peeps. That's the fun thing about Halloween candy - there's something for everybody!
And as far as the 'other' candy goes...the candy for passing out to the tiny goblins on Halloween night - I can't even bring it in to the house till a few days before the 'big night' - I know my household too well. A day or two before Halloween, my daughter opens all the candy we buy for the trick-or-treaters, dumps them all into a huge bowl and tosses them as if they were a humongous 'candy salad'. It's bright and colorful and if you put your face right down into the bowl and inhale, the smell is quintessential Halloween! Little by little, pieces begin to diappear - and by Halloween night, I know I'll have to stop at the store on my way home from work to pick up an extra bag or two so as not to run out for the kids we actually bought the candy for! It's the same thing every year....and the reason I can admit it, well, something tells me our household isn't exactly unique.....am I right? ;-)
What's you're favorite Halloween candy?